A Destined Meeting
by Rina Hino
Summary: Can Rei, Minako, and the knights convince Rina to go for her love? A story with senshi battles, knights, and of course, love.


A Destined Meeting  
  
Rina looked around another stuffy meeting was going on today, which she hated. Meetings like these bored her to no end; she would rather be slicing demons in half in the negaverse then in this meeting.  
  
Rei almost felt the same way, but she did not want to be in the negaverse. She could tell her sister's thoughts, and sometimes they scared her. Rei would rather be on the battlefield, getting thrown around by Haruka, or Makoto, or even getting killed by Rina. If there was one thing Rina wouldn't tolerate, it was a girl that couldn't defend herself against even the strongest guy. 'One day she'll meet her match in the guy world.' Rei thought.  
  
'Grrr.' Rina thought as she picked up on her sister's thoughts. 'I should toast her right now for that.' Scary thing was that Rina could do that, and Rei knew it. Where as Rei was a very good fighter, she had to admit that Rina was better. Rina was one of the best senshi they had, and Pluto was the only one that Rina would back down too. The guardian of the Gate of Time did not mess around with little miss hotheaded Aries, when she herself was a Scorpio. This made the two quite a pair. Rina was really close with her sister, Rei, and Pluto. And that was about it.  
  
Rei was the softer of the two of them, for Rei had been born entirely of Mars, as Rina was of Mars and Saturn. Rei had some soft spots for people, where as Rina kept herself as emotionally detached as possible. It was her idea that it would cause her less pain in case something was to happen. One thing that got to all of the senshi was that on the battlefield nothing stood in Rina's way, or it'd get blown to smithereens. It was the reason why they didn't like her transforming. Once, she blew away half the castle to get rid of the enemy!  
  
And with the guys! Rina was horrible with them. She could think of some of the most painful ways to tell a guy off. She wounded them, their body, their pride, and never felt a thing about it. She was one tough little bitch. Makoto was tough, but she was still flirtatious. Rei was cold when it came to most guys, as well. The other senshi weren't as bad.  
  
Haruka and Michiru had shocked the entire universe with their statement of how they were together, but everyone accepted it. It was love and that was something that no one in the universe wanted to stand up too.  
  
Princess Serenity was with the Earth Prince, which was another shocking blow delivered to the universe. Minako was dating some famous prince on some star kingdom; Ami was dating a high intelligence computer officer on Mercury, named Urawa, Setsuna was dating someone that she referred to only as her 'mentor' although she never officially stated that she was with him, she blushed whenever she talked about him, Hotaru was dating a very athletic prince from a far off kingdom which had caused everyone to giggle.  
  
Rei, Rina, Serenity, Makoto, and Minako were all 16. Michiru and Haruka were 18. Setsuna was 19. Hotaru was 14. Rei's father had had an affair with the Queen Saturn, and Rina was the result. Well, it was more like King Mars hadn't known that his queen was pregnant and while away on a mission with a few other queens and kings he had lost himself in a fit of passion, had a one-night stand with the Queen of Saturn and she was pregnant as well. Right after Rei was born, Queen Mars and King Saturn died. And, the love between King Mars and Queen Saturn grew; again no one dared to come in between them. Queen Serenity while happy for them, had punished them for their affair, as was her duty as High Queen.  
  
See, in the Silver Millennium there was a wide belief of soul mates, and whomever you were with could be your true love. No one really wanted to come between that, or try to break two people apart, so they usually left it alone. Only a very few didn't believe in soul mates.  
  
Also, during the silver millennium each planet possessed certain strengths and the people born of this planet carried that strength. There were a lot of geniuses on Mercury, then the "average" intelligent people (average on Mercury was like the high on the Moon), Venusians were mostly beautiful bubbly people, the people on the Moon had the powers of healing and seeing the good in someone, the people on Mars were courageous, brave, and had excellent battle planning knowledge. On Jupiter it was physical strength, on Saturn it was the ability to heal with just their hands, on Uranus it was the ability to have a great physical speed, which meant excellent dodging abilities. Neptune had artistic abilities. This is where most of the artists came from. Pluto had the ability of determination, emotional strength, and the ability to not panic in chaotic situations.  
  
"Princess Rei, and Princess Rina, you will have a good explanation for being late!" called a voice to the two princesses.  
  
"Ummm." Rina stuttered as she looked at Luna, whom the voice had belonged to  
  
"Come on, let's go. There are people here that you need to meet. Move it. NOW!" Luna yelled.  
  
"They sent for you?" Rei asked  
  
"Yes, the queen asked me to come and get you privately. You two know that it is your duty as planetary princesses to show up, and be ON TIME! It is tradition for you to greet the guests, it was your planets duty today and this is how you represent Mars?"  
  
"Whoa, Luna slow down. Actually, mars isn't my planet, you see I'm only co- Mars, speak with my sister on that"  
  
Rei shot Rina a look that said 'Damn you and that excuse' Rina smugly stuck her tongue at her sister.  
  
"Now that is not orderly princess conduct!"  
  
"Luna, chill out." Rei said to the small black cat  
  
"Nor is that proper language for a lady of your status"  
  
Rei and Rina fell silent as they walked behind Luna. They were both cursing their luck at having been found by the small cat, but then again that was Luna for you. She always found you, well most of the time. One time Rina had managed to get away from her for almost 2 days, but then she got wore out from teleporting and just came out in the open instead of delaying it more by just plain hiding.  
  
"Oh there they are, well this is Princess Rei of Mars, and behind her is Princess Rina of Mars and Saturn." Rina sighed as she was introduced, then the most handsome guy that she had seen in a very long time took her hand and kissed it. She was given the name of the people that had come with him but all she cared about was he. Brian. Brian was his name. Brian of the Dragon Knights. my god he was gorgeous! I saw that in my sister's eyes as well. She liked him. 'Ah well, you have no time for men!' I told myself as I watched him, and yet, there was a feeling of need in me then I never understood. Unbeknownst to me, the Fates smiled at the meeting.  
  
I exchanged hellos, polite handshakes, let my hand be kissed by multiple men, then I excused myself, mumbling something about I had to do something. I had to get away from him, to keep a distance. It was just an infatuation, I told myself. I'll make him pay for stirring up feelings like that by his handsome looks! Yet, it wasn't just lust. I wanted to be held in those arms, to be caressed, to hear his voice once more, and to be given comfort. 'There's no room in your life for that!' I yelled at myself, and then I headed off to the battlefield, to think.  
  
Rei had herself almost literally attached to Brian. They were walking through the palace as she showed him around, showed him everything and she deliberately kept stopping to explain some things about a certain picture or a certain part of the palace, she had even explained how her sister had blown away half of it without even flinching. Brian noticed that Rei was stalling for time, but he didn't care. It was obvious that he enjoyed her as well. Rei was smart, beautiful, charming, and fun to be around. She liked to joke, and her passion about certain things had surprised him, and that made her more attractive. He knew that his dad had wanted him to hook up with the Princess Rei, and Brian thought that he just might.  
  
Meanwhile, Sailor Pluto appeared on the battle rink where Rina was busy blowing away targets.  
  
"Dead Scream" Pluto whispered and sent her attack at Rina. Rina thought she heard someone say 'ice cream' and she stopped what she was doing just in time for her instincts to kick in and her to get the hell out of the way. She growled as she seen Pluto come down from the pole that she was standing on.  
  
"Need a good fight, Princess?"  
  
"You're a Princess too, Pluto." Rina growled out, her teeth clenched and her eyes narrowed, she hated to be called princess in a way like that, mocking. "CRYSTAL RED, MAKE UP!" She screamed out, and instantly she was the warrior known as Sailor Crystal Red, she pointed one finger out in the air and pulled it straight down in the air, her glaive appeared where she had done that.  
  
Rei felt it. "Rina must be at the training grounds kicking the shit out of someone. She just transformed, but I can feel that she's not in danger."  
  
"Can we go watch her? I just want to observe a senshi in action." Brian asked her  
  
"Sure, follow me." And together the two of them made their way outside to the where Rina was fighting someone. The two of them were good; silence glaive and time staff was being used like swords, the two fought hard, Sailor Pluto thought of it as good practice and Rina thought of it as a way to vent, but either way they were both dodging blows, creating counter attacks, and thinking of ways to outsmart the "enemy."  
  
"HOLY SH." Rei trailed off, realizing that she was in the company of someone, "Sorry about that, it's just that Rina never fights Sailor Pluto, whatever it is, Rina must be seriously ticked. "  
  
"What would make her that ticked off?"  
  
"I don't know but don't get in her way. She's not the nicest when it comes to guys" Rei said, as she laughed. Brian chuckled.  
  
"I'll take your word for it." Brian said as he watched the soldier in black and red fight the one called Sailor Pluto. Brian lightly jogged his memory and, in shock, realized who Sailor Pluto was, the guardian of the Gates of Time. 'Damn, I know why Rina never fought her, but why would she now?'  
  
Flames. That seemed to be Rina's power. Fire, and whatever was in the glaive, although he seen her wrap flames around the glaive and add them into the blast that she threw at Pluto. Pluto tactfully called out a "Chronos Cyclone" and threw it at Sailor Crystal Red, as Rei had told me that was her sister's senshi name. The Cyclone picked up Rina's attack and swept it back towards Rina. Rina held a hand up, her 5 fingers spread apart and little fire balls forming from the air particles, tip of the glaive touching her lips and she said 3 words "Flaming Fire Wind" and those 3 words creating a wave of heat that zipped towards the cyclone and when the 2 of them crashed it sent an explosion that threw both girls off of their feet.  
  
Now to Brian, Rina was just as beautiful as Rei. The two looked a lot alike. Rina's senshi uniform was very revealing. It fit her, like a second skin, hugging every part of her body tightly. Her breasts were pushed together, making them seem bigger, her body was very curvy, she had a small waist, and slightly big hips, her legs had some muscle to them as did her arms, and you could see that her stomach was tight through the senshi outfit. She was gorgeous, but then again there was a gorgeous woman on his arm as well, and she was willing to be with him.  
  
"Well, Rina that was a good fight, thank you. I needed some practice, now I must be getting back to the Gates." Pluto said, she bowed her head respectfully then disappeared into a black portal that she created with her time staff.  
  
"Mind telling me why you were fighting the senshi that controlled time?" Rei called out  
  
"She attacked me first. I almost got hit by something, thank god I have some damn good gymnastic skills."  
  
"You are a very skilled fighter, Rina" Brian said, startling Rina because she hadn't even looked in that direction at all. She hadn't known he was there.  
  
"Thank you" she replied, and then she picked up a sword and walked off, to another ring where she started challenging the robot. She got bored with it, she had beaten it, hell even destroyed it, a lot of times before, but now she was frustrated.  
  
"If there's one thing about my sister that you should remember it's that she could get for 2 days of constant fighting, at least. No breaks, no power downs, just straight out fighting her hardest. Sometimes it's only her determination that keeps her alive."  
  
"Wow"  
  
"Well, Brian, would you like to tour the gardens?"  
  
"Sure, I'd love to." Brian replied. He watched Rina as he turned around, his eyes never leaving her, and even when he was turned around he'd still look back at the warrior beauty every so often until she was completely out of sight.  
  
"So Brian, tell me about yourself" Rei said  
  
"Well, I come from Earth as one of their highest ranking knights of Dragon. I've studied martial arts and various religions for years.."  
  
Later on that night.  
  
"You guys should have been there! It was so perfect! Brian loves lakes, he's very powerful and very strong as well." Rei went on babbling about Brian as Rina tuned her out. All the other senshi were listening with interest, even Ami. Rina half-listened half thought. 'Great, something else that I have to watch over' she thought gritting her teeth in frustration. 'On top of the negaverse we have Rei who's convinced she's in love after 1 date, something she's never ever thought about before, and on top of that I have to keep telling the cursed suitors off.' 'What about the feelings Brian stirs up in you?' A voice in her head asked 'Don't worry about those' another harder voice answered 'Why not? He may just take some things off your shoulders' the soft voice whispered to her 'Why would I want that?' The hard voice asked  
  
'You never know'  
  
'SHUT UP!'  
  
Then it was settled. Both voices shut up and Rina intervening between their arguments. If there was something that she hated it was her mind not making the decisions. Even though she had to admit, sometimes it felt lonely watching everyone flirt with other princes' or flirt around with their boyfriends, but she told herself that she didn't need that. Being the independent girl that she was, she needed no man to have fun. No man would ever catch her heart. How it greatly worried Queen Saturn, her mother, to hear that!  
  
"Rina! Are you listening?"  
  
"No Rei, I wasn't"  
  
"Is something wrong?" came the concerned voice of Ami  
  
"No"  
  
"Well, if there is you know damn well that you can always tell us" Makoto told Rina. She nodded at her in response. Rina was off in her won little world, not really in the mood to talk to everyone. Actually, she didn't want to talk to anyone. Her voice would betray her that she knew.  
  
"Well, I'm going to head off to bed, good night everyone. Sleep well" Rina said, getting up and walking into her room. She turned soft music on as she lay in bed, eventually drifting off to sleep after about another 3 hours.  
  
The afternoon, Rina woke up to Brian gently shaking her. "Come on Princess, wake up." He whispered into her ear. Rina threw the covers back and looked at him blankly. "I was in the area so I told the servant that I'd wake you up while she woke up a few of the others that were still asleep. Get dressed, we have somewhere to be."  
  
"Ok." Rina mumbled as she threw back her covers to reveal a long nightgown that was a satin red. It was mostly plain, but it had a semi-low cut neck and wasn't all that long. Brian smiled to himself as he walked out of her room. That image would prove to stay in his mind for the day.  
  
Rina took a shower in the small bathroom that was connected to her room in the moon palace. Well, there were 5 rooms on each side in this hallway. There was one for each senshi. Serenity, Ami, Rei, Rina, Hotaru, Minako, Makoto, Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna, all had a room. Serenity was the 3 one on the right side of the hallway. Surrounding her was Mars on her left side, and Minako on Rei's other side. On Serenity's left was Ami and on her side was Makoto. Rina was right across the room from the princess. With Michiru and Haruka on her right, Michiru right next to her, and Haruka on Michiru's other side. On Rina's left were Saturn and Pluto, respectively. It had just happened that way that all the inner senshi were on one side and the outers were on the other with Rina in the middle being neither inner nor outer, although she was usually on Mars far more then Saturn. Mars was where the fire was. Fire ran deep in her blood. Rina's veins always loved the burst of energy as fire coursed through them, coming out to deliver a shocking blow to the enemy.  
  
On each side there were 4 bathrooms that connected the rooms, they could be locked on the inside and outside of both doors to the bathrooms. Rina usually locked both doors both ways when she took a shower. Some of the girls, like Minako, didn't bother. We could all get into each other's rooms though, for security purposes, even when the door was locked. Although to Rina it was a pain in the ass to lock her door and have the senshi still come barging in as if the lock wasn't even there.  
  
Rina liked her sense of privacy and she had none here. Throughout her shower she kept thinking of the price she had to pay because she had accepted her duty as a senshi. It hadn't been forced on her, she just had. Each girl had been given a choice; all of them accepted their duty. Each queen had handed down the power, with a heavy heart, knowing that their pride and joy could die at any moment just because she had a powerful transformation pen in her hands.  
  
"Minako Aino, I crown you the new senshi of love and beauty from Venus, to fight and protect the Moon Princess and your planet." Queen Serenity said, as she was the one giving all of the senshi their new powers  
  
"Rei Hino you have now been given the powers of fire and war from the planet Mars. Your mission will also be to protect your planet and my daughter"  
  
"Makoto Kino, you have the powers of Thunder and Lightening from Jupiter. You like the other two, will protect your planet and my daughter."  
  
"Ami Mizuno, you have the powers of water and ice from the planet of Mercury. You have the same mission as the ones before you."  
  
"Rina Hino. You will have the combined powers of fire and destruction from Mars and Saturn. You will be one of the most powerful, next to my daughter."  
  
"Michiru Kaioh you will have the powers of the sea and elegance from Neptune. Your mission is different, you will protect the solar system from others coming in outside attacks, and in part protect me."  
  
"Haruka Tenou, you will protect me and the Solar System with the powers of the ground and the speed of Uranus. You have the same mission as Neptune"  
  
"Hotaru Tomoe your mission is to protect the outer part of the solar system, along with Sailor Neptune and Uranus. You have the power of death and destruction from Saturn."  
  
"Setsuna Meiou, you have been guarding the Gates of Time and I thank you for that, but, now. We will need you more often on the Moon, and helping the outer senshi. You will help protect it all. I'm sorry to place this all on you. "  
  
"And Serenity, Princess of the Moon, you will not become a senshi now, but will have the ability to transform into Sailor Moon in case of a serious threat. As Sailor Moon you can use the Silver Crystal. You will only become a senshi to protect yourself."  
  
And that was that, after an extra blessing and the ritual of handing down power, we were senshi, and we were all sent off to train together, Pluto going with us. That was almost fun, but hellish at the same time. During one part of it, they all had had to fend for themselves for 2 weeks in nature. And if they had happened to find another senshi in trouble, they couldn't help them. Rina hadn't done as well as she'd have liked to, but then again, she did better then some of the senshi.  
  
Serenity, Minako, Hotaru, and Makoto hadn't done as well. Setsuna had done very well, although Rina secretly thought that she cheated. Ami had done well because she had the knowledge of everything. Rei did well because she was deeply spiritual and had strong senses. Haruka did well just because she was determined too. Michiru did well because she found a spring and stayed by it. Rina did well because she could create fires at will.  
  
Serenity wasn't used to the outdoors so she didn't do very well, plus she didn't want to have to kill the animals herself. Minako was the same way; she hated the thought of not having a toilet! Hotaru wasn't very strong, physically and this weakness got the best of her. Makoto cared too much for nature, and the trees, plus she was worried about the others.  
  
Now as Rina got dressed she stopped reflecting on those thoughts, instead her thoughts turned to love. Love of nothing, as she put it. She had nothing, really, in her life. Sure, Rina had love from her parents and sister, but she didn't really love them back. She would die for them, but she had a sense of duty as well to her planet and sister. Plus, she had a lot of responsibility on her, they all did, but Rina was one of the most powerful. She was expected to be one of the best. She had been trained in all subjects, and given more extensive training in most of them.  
  
Rina Hino threw on a long black dress that was loose and comfy. The straps on her shoulders were thin spaghetti straps, it went down and curved over her breast, but went down farther in the middle. The dress was long, yet not clingy; no slits up the side, and it had a criss cross back, as most of her dresses did.  
  
Rina went down stairs, wondering what they wanted now.  
  
"There you are Rina. You are to go to the gates of time, to fill in for Sailor Pluto right now, just in case. We are very worried about them attacking time, but Pluto has other business to attend to. The outer senshi are with her, we don't know if Ami would be strong enough by herself, Minako is visiting her prince, Makoto would go but she's feeling sick this afternoon, my daughter couldn't go, and Rei is going to spend some time with Brian. Leaving you the only senshi left. I'm sorry." Queen serenity said to me  
  
"It's fine, not like I have a love or anything" Rina said, as she went to the Gates of Time through a portal that had been waiting for her. She had to stay there for a few days, as Pluto fought with the outer senshi. "CRYSTAL RED POWER, MAKE UP!" Rina screamed out to the emptiness around her, but with those words she became the warrior Sailor Crystal Red. Carrying her glaive in her hand she sat down, by the gates and waited to see if anything was going to come her way. In the silence of the Gates she had time to reflect. There was no noise, no nothing out here, just silence. Silence. Silence was not golden. It sucked. It was something that Rina could cope with, but not something that she liked to.  
  
Ah well, noise would just bother her thoughts right about now. Rina thought of what it'd be like to have strong arms encircle her. What would it be like to have someone whisper, "I love you" in her ear? What would it be like to be touched in a loving lover kind of way? How would it be to have someone hold you very close and kiss you?  
  
Rina supposed that she'd never know. That thought was kind of scary, but she knew that as a senshi she shouldn't really be with someone because that may make her make mistakes in battle. She supposed she might not be watching the enemy as closely as she should be. She might instead be watching him. That could get her killed!  
  
Rina had done this once before, guarded the gates for Pluto while she was away. This had made Rina and Setsuna very close. In fact, Setsuna had once admitted to thinking of the younger senshi as almost like children to her. Setsuna was older then Queen Serenity, but usually told people that she was 19 while in earth form. And in a way she was only 19, but then again that had to do with her living outside of time and the time she spent on Earth and all that. Rina had never completely understood it, but then again Pluto had never completely explained it to her.  
  
Rina had always felt bad for Pluto; she had given her life to this. The loneliness that she had to endear would have been unbearable had it been anyone else in her spot. For only royalty could use the Time Key. Rina didn't really understand it. Sailor Crystal Red had thought that the only thing that could manipulate time was Pluto's Time Key. She supposed that maybe the enemy could come up with something to manipulate it, even though Rina's own power hadn't been able to blow up the gates, although she hadn't used full power. Rina supposed that it probably eased Serenity and Pluto's minds to have someone here. So, she was stuck here for who knows how long while the rest of the senshi got to enjoy romantic lives. Rina really wished that she could have a life like theirs, she would gladly trade places with Rei!  
  
Rina vaguely wondered if anyone ever attacked this place? Or did they finally know not to attack the Gates? Hell, if Pluto wanted to she could stop time, or close the Time Gates forever, plus she could kick some ass! She was one of the strongest senshi next to Rina, Saturn, and Sailor Moon if she was ever needed.  
  
The senshi in order of power was probably a three-way tie between Moon, Pluto and Rina. Saturn was next in line. Followed by Haruka and Michiru. With Rei coming next, Minako and Makoto in a tie following her, and Ami last. Ami was the weakest when it came to powers, but her mental capacity had saved the senshi over and over again.  
  
Pluto was the strongest because of her Garnet Rod. Sailor Moon was the strongest because she could use the silver crystal. Rina was stronger then Saturn because she had better physical capabilities and she could use fire power, even though her glaive power wasn't quite as strong as Saturn's. Haruka and Michiru were naturally made powerful. Rei's fire kicked major ass, only high concentrates of water made it unstoppable. Makoto was a bit more powerful then Minako, but Minako was more graceful. Makoto had better fighting stances but Minako had more grace when it came to gymnastics. Ami made up for her weakness in her brainpower. Together they made a pretty unstoppable team.  
  
Rina remembered the story of how the Sailor Senshi had came to be.  
  
A few Millenniums ago a great evil cloud had come to our solar system. No one knew where it came from, our how to fight it. This was how it was first figured out that each planet had it's own powers. Sure, everyone knew, but they didn't know they could harness it and use it at their own will.  
  
The dark cloud that was spreading caused Chaos, Disorder, Thievery, Diseases, and all bad things known to man. At first no one knew how to deal with it, for the planets were loose villages strung here and there. 9 female warriors, each of them were witches and sorceresses, rose to the challenge. Using powers that had made them gods, they managed to push the dark cloud back by using the natural powers of their planets. Using the powers of water, ice, fire, earth, wind, time, thunder, love, healing, and destruction they managed to banish the dark cloud from all eternity. The 9 women quickly became praised as goddesses and given the throne of their planets. Chronos smiled at the Gates as things were happening exactly as they should have. Soon, he would have to make another warrior come and protect this place, although that would be hard for him to do.  
  
There was a curse placed on Sailor Earth that day, wouldn't have a child to carry on this tradition. So, from then on, only men were born on Earth and the Earth queen in her bitterness withdrew from the planetary alliance that was created by the 9 of them. What none of them, besides Pluto knew, was that one day 2 children would be born of Moon and Earth, and the second child was destined to become Sailor Earth.  
  
"Rina" called a voice, interrupting her thoughts. "Yes?" Rina replied "How are you?" This time, Rina recognized it; Rei was contacting her through the fire "Fine. a bit lonely, but fine" she immediately said back, hoping that that message wasn't getting messed up. "That's good. Brian and I have had an awesome time together! We've been around each other so much that I may be in love Rina! In love! Who would've thought?"  
  
"That's great Rei," I said back "Ok, well I'm going to go to bed, good night."  
  
And then she was gone, just like that. She just had to take time to gloat, didn't she? Damn her. Although, Rina logically figured that she couldn't blame Rei; it wasn't like Rei knew that Rina liked Brian!  
  
Rina settled off, into a light sleep, that night. No dreams, no noise no nothing to wake her up. She wondered if this would be ok, but then again it was light sleep so any little noise would wake her up. A sleep that was full of nothing but the emptiness that she felt in her heart. The blackness that she herself had caused on her was there. Something that Rina would have to deal with in silence. If Rei liked Brian then why wouldn't Brian like her? Rina herself knew that Brian's father had wanted Brian to hook up with Rei. That was the whole reason for him bringing Brian.  
  
Rina woke up to a frantic voice. "What the?" she grumbled grabbing her glaive and pointing it at the person. The mist covered her eyes so she couldn't see the person. "Rina! It's me! You must go back! Hurry!" Pluto said creating a portal and pushing her through it. Rina didn't comprehend any of this but she did know that whatever it was, it was probably another life-threatening thing. She was right. They were all fighting, on Jupiter.  
  
It was a battle with a whole hoard of youma. Venus kept slicing through them with her chain, Jupiter was having lightening constantly zap through her tiara rod, Saturn was sending blasts here and there that were wiping whole sections of them out, Neptune was throwing wave after wave of water, Uranus was pulling out her sword slicing and blasting with that, Mercury was throwing out a constant stream of water while typing away with her other hand and Mars. Mars was at the portal, a constant stream of fire coming out of her hands, killing more then half that were coming out. Behind me I seen Pluto enter through a portal. She immediately threw out a 'Chronos Cyclone' that took out a good number of youma. The girls were tiring, Mars especially. Mars's knees were buckling out from under her.  
  
"Dead Wall!" I screamed out, quickly it killed anything evil that it touched, and it grew bigger. The large dome kept growing, and killing, passing through the senshi not harming them. All the girls immediately collapsed to the ground, enjoying their rest. Any youma that touched the wall died. I vaguely noticed that not just the girls were here, I seen 8 male warriors from earth.  
  
I kept the shield up for a good 10 minutes, then when I took it down, more then half of the youma were now gone. Of course, as was a lot of my energy but the others couldn't know that!  
  
"Crystal Shards!" I said my attack name and immediately a bunch of shards fell from the end of my glaive at a group of 3 youma, tearing them up. The other senshi, glad for the 10-minute break, had some energy recharged.  
  
"SILENCE GLAIVE SURPRISE!" Saturn yelled, clearing most of the rest of the youma.  
  
"Burning Mandala!"  
  
"Shabon Spray" "Venus Love Me Chain"  
  
"Supreme Thunder!"  
  
"World Shaking!"  
  
"Dead Scream!"  
  
"Deep Submerge!"  
  
The attacks combined, to create one huge cloud of attacks that wiped out the remaining youma.  
  
We had to stay on Jupiter for a while, because we didn't know if more attacks were coming. The time on Jupiter was fun, I learned all about the knights.  
  
Brian was Dragon Knight Alexander was Starlight Knight Endymoin was Tuxedo Mask Greg was Sapphire Knight Ken was Gem Knight Michael was Sunbright Knight Steven was Destructo Knight Chronos was Ichido Knight  
  
Pluto had explained to all the senshi that Ichido was another language from long ago that they wouldn't know. We were all surprised that her mentor had turned out to be a knight and help us as well. His job was to watch over the garnet staff and make sure that it never fell into enemy hands.  
  
Michael kept flirting with me, as we were the only two left without someone else. He was annoying me, though. Sure he was nice, but I didn't want him. I caught Rei flirting with him once or twice, which really annoyed me especially since her and Dragon were together. I just decided to back off out of the scene of dating. All the other girls could have their fun, I wouldn't.  
  
"So, what do you guys think?" Brian asked the group of 7 guys around him. The knights had found some quiet time to talk to one another with no one else around. Their subject of choice was, of course 10 girls. They all had to be thankful that there weren't two more of them because Haruka and Michiru were very possessive of each other.  
  
"I really like Princess Minako. Her pretty eyes, long blond hair, her grace." Alexander was practically drooling when he talked about her  
  
"I like Princess Rei better then Rina, but Rei is already taken so I'll settle for Rina. Rina's so uncaring! She's too detached." Michael said, making a face  
  
"I like both Rina and Rei, but I doubt that Rina would open up to me. She doesn't seem to like any of us," Brian said, thoughtfully  
  
"Well, you all don't know what you're missing! Princess Makoto is by far the best." Ken said, boastingly  
  
"Nope, Ami's really sweet." Greg said, blushing  
  
"Oh no, Princess Serenity is the greatest one by far. Sure they're all pretty but I think Serenity is gorgeous! She's got nice long silky hair, and those beautiful sky blue eyes." The prince of earth was staring off thinking about this as the others slapped him on the back.  
  
"Go Endymoin! But, I like Pluto the best. She's the most mature." Chronos said, snickering  
  
"Well, I like Saturn," Steven blushingly said.  
  
"I think Brian and Michael need to figure out who wants Rina and who wants Rei. I'll bet you that Rina really wants someone; deep down, just give her a chance. Rina's more poetic and more of a writer then Rei. Remember that you two." Chronos said  
  
What he just said made Brian look up into his eyes. She was poetic. She wrote stories. Brian did as well. He was beginning to suspect something, but knew that he could never ask Chronos anything. Chronos would never reveal time to anyone, nor would Pluto. So, Brian would just have to try to get to know both of them.  
  
"No, Brian is great!" Rei said in contrast to Makoto just saying that Ken was great.  
  
"I like Greg." Ami said, blushing.  
  
"Nope, you're all wrong Alexander is hot!" Minako said cheerfully  
  
"Chronos is great." Pluto added thoughtfully  
  
"I like Steven" Hotaru said, blushingly  
  
"The Earth prince. His midnight blue eyes, dark black hair, strong features, handsome body." the Moon Princess faked a faint as she said all this causing everyone in the room to laugh.  
  
"And Rina, what about you and Michael?" Rei asked, curiously. All the other girls immediately stared at Rina, wondering. Pluto looked amused, while all the other girls leaned in with a sparkle in their eyes. Minako especially. Even Ami loved gossip and had that gleam in her eye. Although Minako's gleamed look was almost half-crazed.  
  
"He's not right for me." Rina finally said. Each of the senshi dropped. They had waited almost 2 minutes for that answer. Pluto was the only one who didn't act surprised, but she chuckled at the way Rina had made them wait for that answer.  
  
"Well, I like Michael too!" Rei said  
  
"Make up your mind, Rei! Don't do that to Brian, whom seems to adore you!" Rina snapped out at her sister. Her voice was a bit sharper then she intended it to be.  
  
"I think Rina likes Brian!" Minako said  
  
"Oooohhhh. Spicy!" Makoto said  
  
"Do you?" Rei asked  
  
"No, just don't hurt him like that" Rina said quickly, trying to cover up for her mistake.  
  
"Well, if any of these guys hurt you I swear that I will end up kicking their Asses" Haruka said darkly as Michiru giggled. None of the senshi doubted that Haruka would. They all knew that if any harm came to them whether it is physical or emotional Haruka would kill him. That made them all laughs nervously.  
  
"I'll make sure to warn them." Rei said, amusement twinkling in her eyes. Haruka nodded at her.  
  
"Make sure you do." She said  
  
"Girls, please, go to bed! It's late now, and you all can gossip later!" Queen Serenity said, as she walked into the room that they were all in.  
  
"But Mother! They'll be around us tomorrow!"  
  
"Who daughter?"  
  
"The knights of course!" Minako said for Princess Serenity  
  
"You shouldn't be talking about them anyway!" Queen Serenity said  
  
"No, we were choosing between them, deciding on who we all liked. Not trashing them!" Minako said  
  
"Oh, well you girls must tell me everything!" Queen Serenity said, we all moved over and made room for our queen as she flopped down with us. For a whole hour we began to explain everything to her. Like mother, like daughter. Queen Serenity even shared some of her love adventures when she was our age with us. And for that hour, we were no longer royalty, we were no longer talking about knights, Queen Serenity was our age again, and there was no evil to fight.  
  
It's too bad that all good things must end as Queen Serenity left, and we all went back to our own rooms, happy. You could still hear her light laughter echoing down the hall as she walked down it, back to her own room. We all had offered to escort her back to her room. She had insisted that we stay here while she walked to her room by herself, much to Haruka's disliking.  
  
This was something that we rarely did anymore. In the past the queens would sometimes sit down with us and we'd all be friends, or sisters. The queens could act just like us, and it was always fun to see their mischievous faces as they told us about what they had done when they were younger. One time, all the queens and princesses of each planet sat down together told stories, jokes, did makeover sessions, threw pillows at each other, watched movies, and didn't sleep at all!  
  
That night, each queen, princess, and knight settled into bed. Brian and Michael, however, didn't. They stayed up, lowly talking together about Rina and Rei. Neither of them really knew whom they wanted, but they also knew that it was up to the girls, and not them. Rina didn't show interest in anybody, while Rei showed interest in both of them.  
  
"I don't want to take a chance on Rina and have it all be wrong." Michael flat out stated.  
  
"I don't know because Rei really likes me, and she thinks that I really like her." Brian said, aggravated at all this. Why couldn't Rina just make this easier? Why did him and Michael both have to like Rei and Rina? Why was this difficult?  
  
Brian couldn't find the answers to these questions, though. He knew there would never be answers. He also knew that it wasn't right for them to talk about the girls as if they could just be passed on, as if they were property. Rina and Haruka would definitely blast their Asses out of the solar system if they knew!  
  
"Well, we'll just have to hang out with them." Brian said. Michael nodded, agreeing. Finally, the last two knights fell asleep. All was quiet as the warriors slept, peacefully. None of them had a dream that night. Not even Rei. Which was unusual.  
  
The next morning, when they were all awake, they decided that they could leave, and if anything else went wrong they were to be notified right away. They all piled into the shuttle that was going to take them back. They had spent too much energy fighting to do a cross planet teleport. So instead they all went, as one big happy family. Ami and Greg sat and talked in the back about some physics or something.  
  
Minako and Usagi were in the front, looking into mirrors and giggling over some untold secret only heard by their ears. Makoto and Ken were quietly talking in the back. Hotaru, Steven, Haruka and Michiru were all conversing. Rei, Rina, Brian, and Michael all sat together talking.  
  
"Well Rina here, has never had a date." Rei said giggling  
  
"Well, I'm sorry if I have more important things to do, like save your ass, then giggle over some stupid boy like I'm a twelve year old schoolgirl!" Rina muttered.  
  
Rei looked at her, as if she had grown a second head. Michael felt like saying something to stand up for Rei, but decided against it. Rina did not look like she was in the mood for teasing. Brian felt that Rei got what she deserved with that one.  
  
After about 10 minutes of uncomfortable silence, Rei got up and excused herself, saying that she was tired, so she went to lie down. When she left them, Michael left to go talk to Endymoin.  
  
"Everyone strap in! Now! We have some trouble! Solar Wind!" Came a voice that sounded much like our pilot's voice, over the speakers. All the senshi and knights did as they were told. You could feel the vibrations in the shuttle, as they were rocked back and forth. Rina, now realizing it, reached over to grab and squeeze Brian's hand, which he returned the gesture.  
  
Rina, mortified at what she'd just done, snatched her hand back, and refused to look at him at all for the rest of the trip.  
  
Brian on the other hand, blushed and turned to look away from her. She, the little bitchtress herself had just grabbed his hand! She was looking for comfort! HER! SHE WAS! Brian's mind screamed in happiness as he became smitten with love ideas with her. He honestly wanted to just grab her in his arms and hold her there forever, now. This senshi was probably one hot little fireball! Brian blushed again as he thought of that.  
  
He knew that he'd have a challenge up ahead, but he also knew that he'd made his choice. He wanted Rina. He didn't care how long it took him; Rina was going to be his girl. First, he'd have to find a way to stop Rei's advances on him, then let Michael take over. Brian silently prayed to the fates that this would all work out. Unbeknownst to him, the fates smiled down at his request, and the stars shown brighter then ever as an ancient love was rekindled.  
  
Brian turned to Rina, as she was now busy writing  
  
"What are you writing, Princess?" He asked her softly.  
  
"A Story."  
  
"About what?"  
  
"Well. Love." Rina whispered softly, sadly, "It's kind of funny, I fight in the name of love, and I write about it, but I'll never know it." Then she smirked and went back to writing her wonderful tale of love, unicorns, faeries, dragons, and nymphs. A dashing young hero was saving his young beautiful princess from a dragon, as they rode away on a Unicorn, faeries guiding them, and then them ending up by a lake, with the nymphs. It was a lot better then it sounded! Rina made the lover in her story out to be a lot like Brian. She made him be like what she imagined Brian to be like.  
  
Brian felt sorry for her. He hated her words 'never know it.' and she had said it with such confidence. That scared him. This beautiful girl next to him believed that she'd never love! Or was it that she believed that no one would ever love her? Brian would have asked her, but he decided to wait until they were in more comfortable surroundings. Well, he told himself more comfortable, he meant more romantic. He'd have to confess this feeling to this wonderful senshi. He hoped that she wouldn't push him away.  
  
Brian waited. He waited for this flight to end. Soon they'd be back on the moon, and then after that he could plan how he'd tell her. The senshi in red and black had captured his heart! He knew that even when he was with Rei he had often thought about Rina. He had wondered about her past, why she was so clammed up, and why she never trusted anything. The only thing that Rina Hino seemed to like was an animal! She was protective of nature that he knew.  
  
Rina glanced over at Brian. He was asleep. 'How cute!' her mind thought! He was cute, too. His eyes were closed, and he looked so peaceful, so lovable, and yet Rina could see herself leaning her head against his chest, and wrapping her arms around him. She was more then half-tempted too. 'But you can't Rina! He's Rei's!' A voice in her mind said, and then at that point, they argued.  
  
'HA! You know damn well that people can't be just traded off like that' 'But don't you want to be someone's girl?'  
  
'I'm not going to be someone's property!'  
  
'But you want to be his girl. and you know it.' 'Maybe, but duty means more to me.' 'Does it really?' 'Yes' 'You're already going to die in the name of love and justice, why not die for someone you love?' 'Rei's more important!' The one voice said back, stubbornly 'You're so tired Rina. Rest now. You know you are. You'll do no good on the moon if you're sleeping.'  
  
At that point, that voice won. Rina fell asleep. Since no one was buckled in anymore, the threat being over, she unknowingly fell against Brian. Her head was against his arm, and her body fell against his curled up form, and they slept, near each other, their body warmth emitting around both of them, forming a sort of heat barrier around them.  
  
All the senshi noticed, and it became the gossip, it quickly spread, even Rei who had just woken up from her short nap heard! She came out to see for herself and when she saw them she almost fall back in her chair. Rina looked so peaceful, for once. She was even sleeping, not putting herself into a light sleep just in case! Rei smiled at them. She wanted to see what Rina said when she woke up and realized that she was leaning against Brian.  
  
Of course, Rei had to admit that a bit of jealousy was creeping in, a lot actually. She tried to calm herself by telling herself that neither of them knew that they were leaning against each other. Rei decided to sit down, and not look at them, for now. It was too much. Brian was supposed to be hers! And here her sister was lying with him! They didn't know, she kept telling herself. It'd be fine; Rina would wake up, have a fit, move, and stay pouting for the rest of the day.  
  
The other senshi watched, waiting. Minako had that look in her eye that was the look she got when she was playing matchmaker. Makoto sighed and shook her head, feeling sorry for the two. Ami even watched, fascinated as the two lay together. Serenity went both ways on it; there was a strong presence of love between the two, but Rei. Rei was Serenity's best friend, and Rei had a strong feeling for Brian. It was obvious, and Serenity had always thought that Brian liked Rei, too. She was getting mad at Brian for doing this to the two sisters.  
  
Had Queen Vandria of Mars been alive then she would have seen it. She would have noticed the fact that Rina and Brian's auras seemed to be in sync with one another.  
  
"What should we do about them? They haven't woken up yet." Ami asked "Wake them up!" Rei said, a bit annoyed "No, they deserve to rest, just as you did Rei. If she hadn't fallen asleep against him, she'd still be near dead. Somehow, his energy healed her. It takes a lot to hold a shield up for 10 minutes, plus she gave us some healing energy as it passed through our bodies. And you know that Brian fought with everything that he had, a bit too quickly, and kept that same pace up throughout the fight." Neptune stated  
  
"Fine." Rei mumbled  
  
"How are we going to get them out of here together?" Ami asked "Easily. Mako and Haurka, go for it!" Hotaru said. Makoto and Haruka looked at each other and nodded. Being very careful to not waking the sleeping people in their arms. Most of the senshi thought it was cute, but Rei was jealous as all hell! She regretted leaving Brian and Rina alone together. And on top of it all, they were being put in a bed together! ALONE! The word alone screamed out in her mind. This was too much, she'd just have to charge right in there, wake them up, and demand an apology.  
  
"HOLD IT Rei!" A threatening voice said from behind her as she started making her way to their room.  
  
"Did you not hear me?" It was Michiru. She was threatening Rei.  
  
"I heard you, but Brian is MY boyfriend." Rei growled  
  
"No he isn't." Michiru smirked  
  
"Well, he's going to be as soon as I go in there and claim him!"  
  
"I can't let you do that, Rei." Michiru said, evenly, unemotionally.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"You will not interfere with time." Michiru said again in the same calm, cool, even voice.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You will not be allowed to enter that room, that's what she means." Setsuna said, appearing from the shadows  
  
"Why not?" Rei snapped back, getting rather annoyed at the two.  
  
"Rei! You will not go in there. Let them rest, their rest will be prove to be vital." Setsuna said  
  
"Fine!" Rei said, believing that another battle would be coming up and that was why it was so important for Rina and Brian to remain asleep, together.  
  
Brian had wonderful dreams, of a love that would last. It was more of a promise of the future to come if he chose the right girl. He didn't know this of course, just as the queens looking in on him didn't know that they were looking at true love, well, most of them didn't.  
  
"It's been a while since I've felt waves this strong." Queen Millennia of Venus whispered to herself as she closed her eyes and concentrated on the two.  
  
"Could it be.?" Queen Andra of Mercury started to say,  
  
"Destiny?" Queen Lila of Jupiter breathed out  
  
"Maybe. but pour Rei." Serenity, queen of the Moon, said  
  
"This is something we should watch." Queen Malia from Saturn said, coming up behind them. Queen Aori from Uranus, and Queen Nindria from Neptune were behind her.  
  
"Don't interfere with them." Queen Celia from Pluto said, coming up behind them  
  
"We won't" Queen Terra said in awe at saying the ancient queen of Pluto in front of her.  
  
All the queens had heard Rei yelling about it, so they had to come and check it out for themselves, to see Rina actually resting against a guy with her own eyes! Then, just like they were their daughters' ages, they all started gossiping about it.  
  
"They could be the next big couple!" Lila said  
  
"They might be married!" Malia said, dreamily, imagining her daughter's wedding  
  
"They may have beautiful kids." Serenity said, thinking of little children running around, brightening up her day even more.  
  
"How nice it would be to have young love in this palace again." Millennia said out loud, her eyes traveling off to the past when she had fallen in love with her husband.  
  
"I know what you mean." Celia said, as she smiled at the young teens as they slept. 'They just don't realize what destiny has given them.. They will always find each other, life after life.' she thought in her mind.  
  
"Well, we should leave them be" Andra said, looking at the other queens. She caught Nindria and Aori slightly smirking. "Is something wrong?" she asked them  
  
"There is young love, around here, in case you forgot."  
  
"Your daughters aren't at the palace all that much. Plus, I have to admit I'm not that close to the outer senshi. I still think of them as my own children but I don't see them as much as I do the others." Serenity interjected before an argument could break out.  
  
"I know that your daughters love is destined, it's so nice to see them together. but they're more serious then playful. These two. these two will be playful." Millennia added.  
  
All the queens nodded, and then closed the door and left, still dreaming up wonderful fantasies for the two. They also pondered over how this could happen. Rina wasn't the dependant type, nor was she the one to admit when something wrong happened. They had all watched the battle on the screen, and then gasped in horror as Rina continued to fight, even after holding that shield up. Unseen, but not undetected, magic went through the bodies of the senshi as they were given more life force from Rina. Something odd happened though, Brian rejected his. There had been a small struggle that went unnoticed by the others, but eventually Rina had accepted it back.  
  
Her courage kept her alive. Had any other senshi had a power level that low, they would have fallen to the ground, unconscious. Well, except for Haruka and Setsuna, that is. Rei would have fought, and stayed up for a little bit, but not that long. None of them would have been able to hold out that long.  
  
"I want to see that again, there's no way Rina could have done all that." Millennia said, as she walked with the other queens to the viewing room. Once there, they rewound the tape and watched more closely. After she put the shield down, it seems that as it was going back into the glaive, someone had sent her a bit of energy, without meaning too. It was Brian. He was unconsciously sending her energy when she needed it.  
  
"My god." Nindria said as she seen it happen, once the screen became magnified on Brian.  
  
"He doesn't even know." Andra said, pulling out a computer, much like her daughter's, and trying to tap into where the link came from between the two.  
  
"This is love." Celia said, and then she disappeared. The old, but still young looking queen of Pluto was in retirement. She was from generations before the others around here; she had befriended them, as she did within each generation. Only when worse came to worse was she to be at the gates of time, guarding it as she once did. It was a task that fallen to the neo- generation.  
  
The queens puzzled over this some more, as Queen Andra finally found that a small link had been opened up. Rina had wanted some extra energy, and Brian had given it to her. Neither of them knew it, though. She had asked, unconsciously, and he had given, without a single question. None of them knew that fate was following its course, beautifully, as a young person was just now waking up.  
  
Brian woke up, his eyes fluttered open. Immediately he felt a presence on him. That's right, on him. He looked down, immediately, not recognizing his surroundings. It was getting dark out, so he could still see, but not all that well.  
  
"Rina." he whispered as he seen her, curled up, his arms around her. Brian tried to think as to how this happened, but the last thing he remembered was falling asleep on the plane.  
  
The plane. Perhaps she had fallen asleep and fell against him. The senshi, not wanting to disturb the two, had carried them in here together. It was the only logical reason, but what would she say when she woke up? Would she be happy or pissed? Would she want to stay, or leave right away? He honestly didn't know anymore. Instead, he laid his head back down and kept her close. He let the sleeping princess in his arms rest, and made no movements to wake her up.  
  
He just rested. And thought. He thought of how he was going to capture this beautiful princess's heart. 'I could plan a romantic evening.' he thought. His thought turned to that. It'd be outside, by a lake, under the moon, candle lit, he'd write her some poetry and have all her favorite foods! He could pull it off; but how would he lure her there without her realizing it? That quickly became the million-dollar question.  
  
Rina stirred in her sleep, not really knowing where she was at the moment. But she felt it. The extra warmth was the first thing her senses picked up on. Then her sense of touch came into play as she felt him. Her hearing came in next as she heard the soft breathing of another human, and heard a heart beat. Opening her eyes, she saw that she was right. She was lying with someone.  
  
"Brian?!?!" She asked, when she bolted up.  
  
"I assume that you fell against me in the shuttle, and they didn't want to wake us, so they let us sleep." Brian stated.  
  
"Oh." Rina said, and then she looked around. "A guest room."  
  
"On the moon" Brian finished for her  
  
"Well, it was nice being here and all, thank you for letting me sleep but I really must be going now."  
  
"I figured you'd say that." Brian muttered.  
  
"Well? What else did you expect?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Well then" Rina muttered as she emerged from the room. As soon as she did a very angry Rei approached her.  
  
"HOW COULD YOU?!?!" she screamed in her sister's face  
  
"Rei. I'm sorry... I didn't mean to fall asleep against him! That's the last thing I wanted."  
  
"YOU WERE THE ONE TO ACTUALLY FALL ASLEEP!"  
  
"I'm sorry! I don't know why I did that. and I don't know why I slept for so long either." Rina whispered, shamefully.  
  
"Stay away from him, Rina." Rei whispered to her, threatening as she left. This was something that almost scared the soldier of fire and destruction, until she came to her senses and realized that she could beat Rei. Sure, beating up her sister wouldn't be the most pleasant task in the world, but Rina was sure that she could do it.  
  
"She's taking this well." Brian commented, as he had decided to get up as well  
  
"Yeah well, you are."  
  
"No I'm not."  
  
"She thinks you are hers, Brian." Rina said, slowly  
  
"I don't care, I never asked her out, never kissed her. Sure, I've flirted with her, and enjoyed myself while being with her, but never actually said I liked her or anything. I like a different princess."  
  
"How could you do this to her! How could you lead her on like that?" Rina practically exploded in his face. She was facing him with eyes that stared directly into his. Eyes that was full of anger. They showed him that she was not afraid of him, nor would she tolerate this.  
  
"Rina. I'm sorry. I honestly thought that I wanted her, but she's not the one. Can you blame me for that?" Brian whispered, almost pleadingly to the angry senshi in front of him. She just had to see his point!  
  
"No. I guess not. You have to tell her, you know that, right?" To his amazement, the senshi in front of him looked at him in sympathy. As if. as if she understood.  
  
"Tell me Rina, why are you so distant?"  
  
"That is not information that you should know." Rina stated. She walked away from him. She was most likely going to her chambers to change, and freshen up. There was going to be a celebration tonight, in honor of the victory. Really, it was just another excuse to throw a ball. The Moon Queen loved balls, and it was a running joke that anything would make her have one.  
  
Brian got up and went to go change as well. But should he wear? Should he choose the blue tuxedo with the cape? Or perhaps the green tuxedo that sparkled? Maybe the dark red one, with the cape? Or, perhaps he should go with just black? Brian wasn't sure, as he looked on. Sure there were other ones, but it was in these that he knew he would look his best.  
  
Finally choosing the red one, because he knew how much Rina liked red. Also, he always though that red was a great color. It was the one color he couldn't go wrong with. Finally deciding on that Brian went to take a shower, to get freshened up. He made sure that he was very clean and smelled just as clean. His shampoo had a scent of pine, and his cologne had the same scent, although he did not smell like a forest. It was deeper then that, something that was rare to find. It also would draw his girl of choice in, or so he hoped.  
  
Tonight was the also the night that a lot of them were going to smile down on their princesses and publically come out with their companionship. Brian knew that it was too early to propose, but he knew that all of the knights were thinking about it. With the exception of Brian and Michael, all the other knights had found someone to be with. Brian thought of that kind of bitterly, but he also knew that Rina and Rei were matched pretty close with only a very very few major and some minor differences. It would be hard for any guy to choose, although Brian was now hell bent on Rina. He hoped that Michael would accept that.  
  
Rei was a great girl, as well, to Brian. He couldn't deny that. He knew that Rina was the one for him, however. She was more his type. More mysterious. And, to be honest, Brian wanted to protect her. That day in the plane had taught him that she wanted protection. She was crying out for it, but it was something that she kept hidden. Rina told herself that she had no time for such insecurities.  
  
It was as if she was a puzzle and Brian finally felt as if he was putting the pieces together. Slowly, but he was doing it. Her heart was safely guarded against him, though. He didn't know if he would ever unlock it, but by his determination, he was willing to try. He would have to give it all he had to her. All of his determination, stubbornness and will were going to have to be kept strong, as well as persistency. And his patience was going to stand a test of time as well.  
  
Rina sat in her room, fixing her hair, ready for tonight's ball. She was really just brushing it out, after her shower. Her long black dress curved to her every curve on her body, with a slit all the way up to her thigh on one side. There was some lace over the black silk material in the breast area. Besides that, nothing else really stuck out. There were thin straps, and the dress was low cut. It curved just up and over her breasts, making a v in the middle, before coming up a little bit, and making another half circle shape on the other side.  
  
A red and gold rose necklace adorned her neck. A simple pair of sparkling diamond earrings were in her ears, along with little black hoops, for Rina had two holes in each ear. A black pearl bracelet was on her right wrist. On her right hand fingers was an amethyst in the shape of the Saturn symbol on her pointer finger, a diamond in the shape of a star on her middle finger, on her index finger was a small garnet on a plain gold band, and on her thumb was a diamond in the shape of a ram representing her being an Aries. On her left hand was a ruby in the shape of the Mars symbol on her pointer finger.  
  
Rei put on a simple yet elegant red dress. It was a long red dress that went beyond her ankles, trailed behind her a bit, and fluffed out around her a bit. The neckline was dangerously low, but that gave Rei enough room to wear her rose necklace that was exactly the same as Rina's. Rei wore a pair of earrings in the shape of the Mars symbol in her ears, a ring on each hand on her pointer finger. One was a ring exactly like Rina's being a ruby in the shape of the Mars symbol, and another was a heart shaped ring with one side of the heart being made up by 4 little diamonds.  
  
Rei remembered that day that they had gotten the rose necklaces.  
  
. "Oh wow, this is so pretty!" Rei exclaimed as she seen it there "Yeah, I noticed it a bit earlier, it is very pretty" Rina said, walking up to her sister as they strolled around the shops in Crystal Tokyo.  
  
They both left the shop together.  
  
Later on that year, on Christmas, the girls opened their presents from the other and Rina and Rei had gotten each other that same thing! .  
  
Laughing out loud to herself a bit as she remembered that necklace, Rei put on her make-up. Her and Rina were really close, but lately. lately they hadn't spent as much time together as they usually do. That Christmas, every gift the girls got from them was marked "From: Rina and Rei." They rarely did things separate. Sure, they were competitive with each other, and they were hard on each other, but there was a connection with them that Rina didn't share with her other sister. And this made Rei feel all the more special.  
  
Minako slipped on a gold dress. It was long, but had a slit up the side much like Rina's did. Minako's was tight, showing off her well-muscled stomach and pushing her cleavage up so that you got a great view of it. She wore a simple ring. A Citrine stone that was on her pointer finger that had the shape of the symbol of Venus on it, she placed on earrings to match, and a nice thin gold bracelet on her wrist.  
  
Makoto was in her customary color of dark green. It was a simple dress. A slit came up to her knee. It was rather loose. Except for at her chest, then it got tight. After that, it flowed around her. On her pointer finger, like all the other girls, she too had a ring in the shape of the symbol of the planet of Jupiter. Only hers was an emerald. She had on simple emerald stud earrings, a simple emerald bracelet, and her necklace was of a sugar pink perfectly crafted rose. There was no stem, just the flower part of the rose showed.  
  
Ami slipped on a nice dark blue dress. It was nothing flashy like the other girls. Hers was a loose dress. It accented no part of her body, had no slit, and no pushing up on the chest. Just a simple dress that Ami liked. It was the color of Navy Blue.  
  
On her right pointer finger was her planet's symbol in sapphire on a gold band. Along with a sapphire bracelet, and a pair of wings in sapphires on her neck, this was her only jewelry.  
  
Michiru smiled as she put on a dark sea green dress. This one was the most elegant. Ruffles and lace adorned it, it cut almost too low, and it accented certain parts of her body: her chest, her stomach, her butt, and her legs. There was another slit, on the other side that went only halfway as high as the other one had. The slit on both sides of it was a ruffle. Her aquamarine stones matched the dress beautifully. Michiru had her planetary ring, as the others did. A simple aquamarine tennis bracelet adorned her right wrist. In her ears she wore a beautiful pair of rose earrings. The flower part of it was, of course, her planetary color.  
  
Hotaru wore a simple purple dress. Hers just made a simple V cut, nothing too low for her. The sleeves on her dress started at the shoulder then went down to become very loose and long all the way to her elbows. There was a small slit that almost came to her knee on her dress. Her stone of Amethyst was her choice stone. She too placed her planetary ring on her right pointer finger. The skirt was loose, as was most of the whole dress.  
  
Princess Serenity hummed to herself as she put on her white dress. This was her traditional princess dress with white, long, flowing, beautiful, and with yellow designs. Her white pearl bracelet and diamond earrings were a perfect accent to enhance her looks. Around her neck she wore a gold chain with a crescent moon in diamonds as the charm. On her finger was her ring of her planetary position. In diamonds was a crescent moon, shaped like the one on her forehead. She was a perfect contrast to Rina.  
  
Setsuna slipped on a very dark garnet dress. In the dark, it'd look as if she had a black dress on. Only under the light, would you see the color and even then, she'd have to be turning the right way for the light to reflect it. Her dark garnet ring with the Pluto symbol on it rested on her right pointer finger. She wore a black choker that had the stone on it as well. If it had been gold, it would've looked like her tiara, for the stone was the same shape.  
  
Haruka wore a gold tuxedo. Her jacket and pants were gold, her tie was black, and her shirt was white. She wouldn't match Michiru, but they were all wearing their planetary colors. She slipped on her planetary ring that was made out of topaz.  
  
All the girls put the finishing touches on themselves as Luna and Artemis came running down the hall, announcing that it was time for the ball to start. All the girls were all thankful that they had gotten Minako to help them with getting the make-up colors right, last night.  
  
Rina was the first out of her room. As was customary, she stood by the stairs that was just on the left of the last rooms and waited. Rei joined her, followed by Haruka, Ami, Setsuna, Makoto, Michiru, Hotaru, Serenity, and finally Minako came.  
  
"You're all very lovely!" Setsuna exclaimed, smiling down on them  
  
"I'm so proud!" Minako feigned tears  
  
"Yeah, let's go get 'em!" Rei winked at all the girls as a chuckle rose up through the group at her words.  
  
"Make sure to have fun, because I know I will" Michiru said leaning against Haruka.  
  
"Well, who's going first?" Rina asked. They began to argue. After almost 10 minutes of useless arguing Rina took charge. She headed down the stairs, walking as she was taught to when she was younger.  
  
The customary thing was for the guy to meet the girl at the middle of the stairs, but Rina doubted that anyone would come for her. Imagine her surprise when Brian started walking towards her! He handed her a flower. She blushingly accepted it and they continued, her arm around his as she walked down the stairs.  
  
All the other senshi were in awe. Minako smiled knowingly. Rei scowled. Makoto got that fierce look in her eyes that she got whenever she went in protective mood. Michiru and Haruka chuckled. Hotaru stifled a giggle. Setsuna didn't react at all, she already knew. Serenity smiled in happiness at seeing Rina and Brian interlock arms. Ami just stared ahead, knowing that she should have figured this out.  
  
Minako walked to after Rina. Alexander met Minako and gave her a beautiful yellow rose that hadn't quite reached full bloom yet. After her, Michiru and Haruka walked down together. Michiru already had a dark sea green rose in her hand. Endymoin met Serenity and gave her the most perfect white rose and a long kiss. All the senshi that seen it sighed at the romantic sight in front of them.  
  
Steven met a blushing Hotaru on the stairs. Chronos met Setsuna on the stairs. Rei tried to be proper as she walked down the stairs but seeing Brian meet Rina had really irritated her. She tried to be rational as she thought that maybe he just felt sorry for her. Rei felt a small fury in her as she seen Michael come to meet her. She was the last senshi to come down.  
  
"Hello Rei" Michael said, smiling at her and handing her a beautiful rose that had no bent petals or nothing that was picked off of it, no crispy edges. Just pure beauty.  
  
"Thank you." Rei whispered softly as she looked at him. Her cheeks were slightly stained red as she tried to hold back her blush. Her heart beat rapidly as she took the flower. Her smile was one of appreciation. Her thoughts wandered to him. What would he be like? Brian was great, but Michael. She was becoming filled with thoughts of him. Jealousy reared its ugly head, but Rei decided to try to find out more about Michael. And so, they walked together.  
  
Rina had pulled away from Brian and stepped out to get so air, immediately. She didn't know why he had chosen to go get her. She hoped that Rei wasn't upset with her for Brian's irresponsible actions.  
  
If one were to survey the ball scene, as Brian was now doing after losing Rina in the crowd, they would see all kinds of colors. There were so many colors everywhere! Some girls wore long flowing blue dresses, while some wore more elegant red ones, some wore pretty flower dresses, while others went with more simple designs. Sparkles were everywhere. Men and women wore glitter on their clothes and sparkled as they flowed together under the lights.  
  
'Damn it! You'd think a girl wearing all black would stick out more in the color' Brian thought to himself with his jaw clenched as he resisted the urge to just push people out of his way. He wanted to find her, had to talk to her, to tell her. Ever since she grabbed his hand that day, he had wanted nothing more then to be with her. And, now, nothing was going to stop him.  
  
Continuing to survey the room he continued to see all the colors. Pink, gray, brown, red, yellow, orange, gold, sea green, all shades of blue, purple, indigo, white, and other colors that wouldn't be identified so easily! He never saw the princess in black. He continued to survey the room his eyes slowly taking in all the details as he slowly turned. All the girls were dancing. Rei and Michael looked pretty comfortable together as they danced. She was laughing at him, he must have said something.  
  
Wait! There she was! I saw her on the balcony. The shadows reached to her black dress, and they blended together. That's why I hadn't originally seen her, thank Serenity that the wind had picked up blowing the skirt of her dress the other way! I got to her as quickly as I could, of course I was moving at the pace of a sloth because of all the people.  
  
"Princess. Would you like to dance?"  
  
"No. I would not." Rina whispered as she turned to look at him. "Please?" Brian asked "Don't be stupid." Rina said plainly, as she turned around to walk away "No.. You're not leaving me!" Brian said angrily. Her wrist was in his hand before she even picked up that he moved. "Just one."  
  
She stared at him, long and hard. The look in her eyes was searching him. Her eyes were looking into his, trying to search for an answer, for anything.  
  
"I told you no." Rina whispered, not wanting to listen to her heart, to go against it. Brian let her go. He had no choice now she had rejected him. He didn't pay attention to where she went off to, he didn't care, right now. 'What if I made a mistake? What if I gave up the wrong girl? Rei is beautiful. She's actually kind and nice, unlike Rina. Michael is right she doesn't care about love. Damn it!' Brian cursed his luck. He didn't know what to do now. All he knew was that he made a mistake; Rina didn't like him, at all!  
  
He needed to think. A lake. But first, he had to go talk to someone. Brian charged through the crowd, pushing people out of his way.  
  
'She's laughing! She looks so happy with him. You can't destroy her happiness just because you think you made a mistake' Brian thought to himself as he seen Rei and Michael standing off to the side together. Michael seen him and waved him over.  
  
"Rina left me. She just walked away." "Well, my friend, there's a nice little princess from a star kingdom over there, go talk to her." Michael said, pointing. Brian looked over there. She was cute, more petite then Rina, and had black hair. She was a few inches shorter, and was even skinnier!  
  
Brian moved to walk closer to her. He'd just talk to her, if he didn't like her, then fine, he'd leave. He needed to see though if he could fill the spot where Rina was supposed to be.  
  
He should've known better. She was cute but not that smart. She had bored him, plus she didn't feel right in his arms. Her personality annoyed him. He hated the way she threw herself at him, at least Rei hadn't been that bad! Hell, she told him during that one dance that she'd move here with him if he wanted! He hated unrealistic girls such as her. 'You sure no how to pick 'em Brian.' He thought to himself as he just shook his head. He wanted Rina. It hadn't been a mistake, the feeling he got when he was around her proved it. His determination flared back up in him.  
  
And then he seen her, she was sitting by the lake. Her beauty was amazing as he watched her.  
  
"Who's there?" She demanded, not turning around "P.Princess, are you alone?"  
  
"Yes" Rina responded, annoyance in her voice at Brian being out here "You shouldn't be. I don't mean to sound like I'm preaching, and no that you are more then capable of taking care of yourself but you shouldn't be alone" "I'm fine" "I didn't follow you, Rina. I love lakes."  
  
"Well, if I'm in your way then I'll leave. I don't want to be in your way." Rina whispered. "No. I." At this point, Brian wished he could romance the girl, but he didn't know how she'd take to it. "We should get going back" "Go ahead" Rina said, turning to face him for the first time. "I'm not ready to"  
  
"It's dark" Brian kicked himself for that comment.  
  
"Then go back" "I don't want to leave you."  
  
"Then I guess you're staying" She said, amusement sparkled in her eyes at his conflicting thoughts. She thought it was funny that he wanted to go back just because it was getting late! "Yeah, I guess so." He said sitting next to her on the ground.  
  
To his surprise, she got up and ran into the water. She walked into it until her skirt floated up around her waist. "Princess! You'll catch a cold! You shouldn't."  
  
"Quit being so uptight!" Rina said giggling. Then she splashed him. The already wet knight charged into the water after the fire princess. She screamed as he splashed her!  
  
"Why you!" Rina asked as she lunged at him.  
  
Brian's arms easily encircled around her waist as he caught her, and kept her from beating him. "Ha ha!" he whispered into her ear as he caught her. She fell against him, lightly, her body molding to fit his as she snuggled into his arms. Both of them were pretty wet, standing in over waist deep water for her, but about waist deep water for him.  
  
And he loved it. Holding her here, this close to him was something he never wanted to end. The beauty of the earth reflected in the water, and made her beautiful wet skin sparkle, you could faintly here the slow music playing from the ball, the trees around them were silent, such a clear sky. Brian realized that he couldn't have planned anything better then this.  
  
He took his opportunity. His lips touched hers in a brilliant kiss that she returned. Up above, the fates smiled at each other for the young couple. 


End file.
